Jules Conte

Find your “Good Luck Rock”: After a good start Freshman year, I hit one of THOSE skids. I was benched for 2 weeks. I got a random start on a Sunday. I look at opposing P: Fr. drafted in 7th Rd the year prior but made it on campus. “Lively FB and plus off speed” per scouting report. I laugh… And die on the inside. A senior lefty - weirdo pen dude - sees me sitting on bench. I probably look like a scared idiot. “Dude look at that rock!!” Picks up some weird shaped rock and hands it to me. “Dude, it’s your lucky rock!” as he instructs me to put it in my back pocket. “Ok man.” (What a weirdo) 1st AB with lucky rock: 0-2 in a hurry. Absolute gas on outer half. Strike 3 looking. Ump calls it a ball. Say whattttt. 1-2 FB eats me up. But the baseball gods gave me a sawed off bloop over 2B head. 1 for 1 2nd AB: Spins some cement mixer middle middle; double in the gap. 2 for 2 3rd AB: bases loaded down 2, know FB coming early and often; do enough for a seeing eye single up the middle. Tie game. 3 for 3 4th AB: reliever that throws from underneath. As a Fr, I’ve not seen a lot of those dudes yet. Shit should be illegal. 0-2 in a hurry. Runs 2 seem in on hands. I hit a 9 foot pop up that probably broke my bat. C falls out of crouch and misses it. Dude whattttt. Hangs shitty slider. HR #1 in career. 4 for 4 Full time starter from then on for career. After the game, weirdo pen dude get right in my face. Hugs me. Whispers in my ear - don’t tell anyone about the rock. But; help someone else find their own lucky rock…when you see them giving up on themselves. 🤯